The active system of a passive-active missile system recently developed by the Navy basically comprises an automatic tracking radar which uses state-of-the-art techniques for target detection and identification and which is described in the above referenced related applications.
In operation, as discussed in the above patent applications, the active system transmits a linear FM waveform which is processed in a high range resolution receiver to yield an active filtering form of pulse compression. A parallel receiver process is used to maintain data rate while generating an analog output form of range tracking obtained by means of sequential lobing (conical) error generation techniques. Automatic gain control is provided to normalize target amplitudes to selectively predetermined levels for highly accurate range and angle tracking and also to assure that all portions of the active receiver operate without saturation when responding to predicted target configurations. Furthermore, automatic gain control is necessary to maintain linear receiver response in a system requiring large dynamic ranges and radio frequency preamplification.